First trip to the Farmer's Market!

So yesterday morning I went to the Athens' Farmer's Market for the first time, and it was amazing! The delicious smells pouring out of all the vendors' stands are intoxicating. Everything for artisan bread, gourmet cheeses, beautiful bouquets, and freshly picked berries are there. I went home with an amazing roll filled with nuts, apricots, and raisons; honey-lavender goat cheese; a gorgeous zucchini; assorted colors of cherry tomatoes; and ripe blueberries! It was heaven on earth! Next time I know not to eat breakfast beforehand so I can have fresh coffee and a yogurt with home-made granola and local honey while browsing the different stands. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Gorgeous bouquets!

The yellow-green round vegetables in the back are a variety of cucumbers! Can you believe it?! You learn so much from talking to farmers at the market!

The tomatoes I bought.

These zucchinis were so pretty, I had to try one!

These goat cheeses were amazing! Besides the honey, lavender flavor I bought, they had cranberry, peach, Mediterranean, garlic, and many more!

So as promised, I found a way to use up most of my quinoa: Quinoa banana, peanut butter muffins! They were delicious and so easy to make! I was able to make over a dozen, so I'll be freezing them and saving them for breakfasts and pre work-out snacks. Here's the recipe I followed from The Curvy Carrot, a new blog I've found and love!

http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2013/03/27/peanut-butter-banana-quinoa-muffins/

So glad I've finally found a way to use quinoa! I know there's hundreds of other ways to cook quinoa, so though this may be the first weapon on my belt, I plan to add more to my quinoa arsenal over time. But until then, I plan on making the most of these muffins!

Friday Night is Pizza Night!

So tonight for dinner I tried to use up all the leftover veggies I had on hand. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough room on the pita bread for as many as I would have liked, so broccoli and pepper got left out. Not only was there barely room for my red onion but I could not have fit all the zucchini on the pizza if I had tried. And believe me, I did. Luckily, I was able to bake them next to the pizza and make a few zucchini chips. Just coat them in a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and voila!

To make the pizza:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. I coated the bottom of the pizza in pesto and then ricotta (I was trying to use up the last few spoonfuls I had leftover from another meal, so normally I would have left this out).

3. I layered on spinach, mozzarella, portobello mushrooms, zucchini, and red onion. Finally, I sprinkled a little bit of feta on top.

4. Let it bake for about 12 minutes.

Here's the final product! It was delicioso!!

Quesadilla Night

As promised, I tried to incorporate some of my leftover quinoa into a salad, and quite surprisingly, I liked it better cold.

I still have a ton of quinoa leftover but I think I found a recipe that should use it all up! I think I'll save the surprise for the weekend...

As for dinner, my spinach & caramelized onion quesadilla was fantastic! I think the secret to the recipe is feta cheese. I love the tart flavor with the juicy tomatoes!

Zucchini Salad & Balsamic Quinoa

Tuesday night's Zucchini Ribbon Salad was delicious! Here's the recipe that I more or less followed.

http://www.prouditaliancook.com/2010/04/zucchini-ribbon-salad.html

My version.

Now mine may not look as good as the fancy photo, but I promise it tasted amazing! I used a spring mix instead of arugula. I also used toasted pine nuts instead of hazelnuts. And to top it all off, I added some leftover halibut from last week's fish tacos. Delicious! Will definitely be adding this one to my salad repertoire. The crunchy pine nuts, tangy dressing, and tart feta blended perfectly!

As for tonight, I tried to do something with the bag of quinoa I've had laying around since April. Unfortunately, because I don't like math, I just made the amount suggested on the back...it wasn't until it was already cooking that I realized that 1 cup made 4 servings! Now I have a LOT of leftover quinoa. I'm hoping I can sneak some of it into a salad or another recipe here and there so that it's not noticeable. In case you've never had quinoa that wasn't seasoned, let's just say it might be the last thing left on your dinner plate.

The recipe I used for about 1/4 of the quinoa I made was for Balsamic Quinoa and Sautéed Veggies. I figured I like balsamic, and it's pretty strong, so that would be a good way to cook quinoa.

http://mybestbadi.blogspot.com/2013/05/balsamic-quinoa-recipe.html?m=1

My version.

For once, I think mine looks better than the original picture! It even tasted pretty good too. But long story short, with every bite, the balsamic became too much and eating it became more of a chore. I used zucchini instead of carrots and left out the peppers but the vegetables themselves were really good. Wasn't a huge fan of the tomatoes though. (Unless they're part of a sauce, I usually enjoy tomatoes better raw). I think I'll call this a success in regards to my cooking abilities. As far as quinoa goes, I think it might be a bit of a quest to find the perfect way to build a meal around it (or even season it). But I think I'm up to the challenge...after all I have plenty of leftovers to experiment with. ;)

Meal Plan # 1 & Failed Falafels

So here's the meal plan for the week and the subsequent grocery receipt. I'm going to be posting these regularly to show how I'm organizing my meals and how it all adds up. Part of the point of this blog is to prove that even while shopping at places like Earth Fare and Whole Foods, it is possible to shop within a reasonable budget. Hopefully knowing I'm going to be posting these every week will help me stick to one for once. ;) To help me out with this I've learned to try to plan meals so that I use some of the same ingredients for different meals throughout the week. (This week I'll be using feta and veggies in several of my meals) Another tip is to try to use what you already have laying around the pantry, which for me is half a bag of quinoa.

I realize this is somewhat to read now that I've already uploaded the photo, so here are the main things it says:

Monday - Veggie burgers with mint greek yogurt & cucumber

Tuesday - Zucchini ribbon salad

Wednesday - Balsamic quinoa with roasted veggies

Thursday - Spinach quesadilla with caramelized onions

Friday - Pita veggie pizza

Needed: Lemon, feta, cherry tomatoes, mushroom, greek yogurt, fruit, pita bread

GRAND TOTAL: $31.17...not too bad if I do say so myself

So Monday night's veggie burgers which I was so excited about...ended up being a failure. But you win some, you lose some. I found my inspiration for this meal here: http://aapplemint.com/2009/04/01/quick-fixes-for-that-odd-hungry-hour/

You see why I was so excited about these?! Needless to say...mine didn't look quite as put together.

My version.

Maybe part of the problem was that I used pre-made veggie burgers rather than the self made chicken patties that this recipe called for. I think the combination of my pita bread falling apart, and the combo of greek yogurt and cucumber on a burger threw me off. It definitely had a Mediterranean feel, but falafel has never been my thing. And it ended up looking like a falafel that was falling apart. Though I still may go back and try to make the chicken burgers...they look so good!

The Omnivore's Dilemma

When I sat down yesterday on the Starbucks patio with the warm summer air and cool breeze, I couldn't help but think how this was the perfect moment. I was getting ready to dig into a new book and a Java Chip Frappucchino (I allow myself one big treat a week). And then I realized the irony posed by my afternoon treat. My frappucchino probably represented everything that my new book stands against. I was getting ready to read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, and I knew I would shortly never want to order a frappuccino again. But that's precisely why I wanted to read his book. I would just have to hope that I would finish my frappucchino before I got far enough in the book to regret my decision...

I've been meaning to read one of Michael Pollan's books for awhile now. Ever since I got into the "real food" obsession it's been on my list. I wasn't sure which book to start with but a nice lady at Barnes and Noble recommended The Omnivore's Dilemma. I really wanted something that would break down our industrial food system so that I could understand exactly where everything I ate came from. I'm not a complete newcomer to the horrors of America's food system but I wanted a thorough analyzation so that I could be more informed and aware when making decisions and talking about real food with others...which I tend to do a lot. When I get into something new, it becomes a bit of an obsession that all my friends and family have to suffer through with me. At least this way I'll be giving them correct information, and hopefully make them more conscious when they sit down to have their next meal.